and a new video trust posted on an extremist website russia's most wanted terrorist vocal lot of claims that he was a monster mind behind january the twenty four attack at the country's largest airport he said that he ordered what he describes as a special hope for a show on january twenty fourth the suicide bomber and to the international rivals scenario the country's biggest now we've been told will be proud and blew himself up several dozen people were killed in that attack and six out of those killed were foreign citizens in an earlier message gulp or a lot of claims that more terrorists that school followed will take place in russia and that the country was in for a year old blood and tears what is remarkable about that particular video is that indeed he was sitting next to a man would be asked to resemble the very idea that a suicide bomber from the investigative could meet you would know it was a twenty year old man from one of russia's north caucasus republics now it's about

double lot of himself because not only the most wanted man but after speak is also on the international we stop terrorists we're seeing started carved up and have claimed responsibility for similar terrorist attacks in the past but the twins you said bombings on the also matches system and twenty to one forty people were killed and he is also believed to have orchestrated the two thousand and nine forming all but it's frustrating coming from moscow to some it is but we know that russian security forces have refused to comment on the most recent address outdoor pool model but meanwhile we also know that security has been tightened all across the country and apparently the suicide bombing at the idea that has revealed gaping holes in security on public transport ways to see unmanned months introduced to the existing and to terror law oh no on monday president medvedev followed amazing with a senior police officials of russia where he harshly criticize. that was and he

said that the way security was organized on russia's be easiest to transport hops was just unacceptable and should be changed we're now witnessing that police of russia are undergoing a major overhaul and by presidential order and the president hopes that these changes in the work of believe will also improve security in the country in general . well investigative journalist paul lash maher says doku umarov besides having close ties with al qaeda is now taking his terrorist activity to a whole new level these groups move more fiercely around the world and you know their own down to leadership shouldn't operate. it's about chemistry and people from you know thought in fact it's coming into the system. the important thing is that this is really the first time we've heard him emerge you know as a major player in terms of international terrorism i mean he's no threat he is both limited in the box tools in chechnya but he's not known on the international stage

for operating. terrorist operations like what we've just seen of the moscow airport i mean that really is the sort of step up but it's obviously not the first time that the militants are about to gauge their next terrorism because the russian study but this is going seems to be coming to the front until you cannot some of the space that's been left by people who have been killed or captured. thoughts there from investigative journalist paul lash maher now meanwhile officials say an entire terrorist cell has been neutralized in central russia special forces stormed into the suspects house taking them by surprise without firing a shot four people were found with ingredients for a powerful homemade bomb and a plan to attack crowded places officials say the man took direct orders from doku umarov himself. the defense team of wiki leaks founder julian assange say health aced

a quote secret trial if sent sweden to face sexual assault allegations he's known a london court where the evidence on whether he should be handed over to stockholm is being heard as on says the accusations are part of a conspiracy to punish him for running his whistle blowing web site from london are to his lawyer and that reports this is the second day over today extradition hearing for today now songs at the end of which swedish prosecutors will be hoping that they can extradite songs to sweden to face questioning youth allegations over great molestation and unlawful coercion made by two swedish women back in august of last year and julian assange himself has always maintained that these allegations are politically motivated he says that directly follow on from wiki leaks release of the us embassy cables which were deeply embarrassing to washington and say therefore the us will do anything to get its hands on him a black box has been applied to my life and on the outside of the black box

has been written the word right and i hope over the next. we will see about books isn't for. the arguments that the defense will be putting forward are focused around junior songes human rights they say that his human your rights will be violated if he's extradited to sweden they also say that if he goes to sweden there's a risk that the u.s. will seek either his extradition or they will try to apply illegal rendition to him to take him to the u.s. where he may be held in guantanamo bay or a similar detention facility and they also say that he is at risk of being subject to the death penalty if indeed he is extradited on words to america they're also fighting this on the grounds that he hasn't actually been charged with any crime the swedish prosecution wants to question him about these crimes but they haven't charged him yet and they say that the principle of extradition law is that

suspicion of having committed a crime is not grounds for extradition you actually have to charge somebody however many say that sweden has an incredibly close friendship with the u.s. and so there would be a lot of political pressure to extradite him onward once he gets to stockholm now with this is the last day of this particular hearing but we're not really expecting a decision to be made today the judge has already said that he may take several weeks to consider this decision and then will be able to appeal if the decision goes against him so we'll have to wait to see how it pans out later on this afternoon. waiting swedish academic dr brian palmer told r.t. that the chances of julian assange are being handed over to the us or much higher if he sent to sweden because of the close relations between the two. would be easier to get into the u.s. from sweden then from britain the swedish government has shown itself to be more

apply and then the british surprisingly given the so-called special relationship of trust between britain and the usa the the once very progressive sweden has become something of a voluntary. apprentice state some would say vassal state of the usa. and we've got that full interview with dr brian palmer in a little over twenty minutes for you now also coming off we've got more stories ahead including questioning switzerland's neutrality and more going capita than any other european country many swiss are wondering if it's time to finally lay down their weapons that's on shortly. was the century since the birth of ronald reagan we look at his legacy and the gross change in picture being painted by i think the west media. but first as protests in

egypt enter a third week thousands of demonstrators are keeping up the pressure on president hosni mubarak to step down caro's main square has been the scene has seen i should say amounts to the crowds are being pushed back by the army to get traffic moving banks and some businesses are now reopening but schools remain closed and the night curfew is still in force president mubarak has ordered a reform committee to be set up with the task of changing the constitution meanwhile the country's vice president is being courted by the last to replace mubarak presidency is paul the slayer reports washington is considered a questionable mediator in egypt itself. it's important to support the transition process announced by the egyptian government actually headed by now vice president. omar suleiman hardly the words of a neutral burka and who are far removed from the people heard ministration kane's

to be listening to. dr meg heads up human rights organization that teaches each option is about democracy he says he don't like solomon for the very reason americans do almost human part of this is we consider american people. didn't. want to. live mubarak who was still. in power in those thirty years talked of last year by the u.k.'s telegraph is the most powerful spook in the region so a man is suave sophisticated and through internet nish but the former head of egypt's intelligence service worked for years as the cia's man in cairo.

are among the solomon is accused of having been personally involved in torturing suspects this is the problem now in egypt is there's a struggle between not between mubarak and the people but because between the american cia covert operators of u.s. power around the world and the people are having to try to get mubarak replaced with somebody else it's hard to ignore the fact that the very abuses that drove hundreds of thousands of people into the streets had some assistance from the united states people have collected almost with pride these empty tear gas cylinders that have the words made in the usa written on them and so so much for regime change. so the man was as much made in america as the dictator who appointed him and who is now being thrown out by the egyptian people. cables show the us administration was grooming him for years as far back as two thousand and seven here it had a radio dangerous kind of month as a possible successor to president mubarak. and many of her contacts

believe that solely because of his military background would the least have to figure in any succession scenario and so when obama goes on record and says he gyptian must choose for themselves it is not the world any other country to determine egypt's leaders only the egyptian people can do that to people here not because you secretary of state is admitting to something different but we have to do is to set a consistent message supporting the orderly transition that has the. urging that it be not only transparent is very concrete but many egyptians are afraid of and think he's more a dictator the mr mubarak which leaves the united states out in the cold when it has to explain why it's backing him. kyra. are on to our web site where we continue analyzing the issues surrounding the crisis in egypt look at

how when u.s. criticizes president mubarak's actions and question whether the obama administration would handle the situation differently if it happened in america. than thirteen a cute and cuddly characters competing for the title of the sochi winter olympics mascot have been revealed so who they are and vote for your favorite that's on our website our take dot com. on the day which would have been ronald reagan's hundredth birthday analysts and commentators have been looking back on the former american president's legacy much of the u.s. media has spoken glowingly of his time in office but some dissenting voices say

that more than thirty years after his presidency there reporting more on myth than the man himself archie is christine for sao has more. it was a celebration fit for a king. and even though the u.s. government never had a monarchy if they did this man thank you just may have been the king we give ourselves a little pat on the back for having made republican a proud word once again. ronald reagan the fortieth president of the united states may be gone but his one hundredth birthday saw the mainstream media elevate him to sainthood he stuck to his principles he was authentic which is i think one of the reasons why he's so admired after all of these years but he knew when he needed to compromise this sunday a president ronald wilson reagan would have turned one hundred years old the reagan presidential libraries concerts a giant birthday cake and the opening of a new museum roundtable discussions on his significance from

a historical perspective he knew when to hold them he knew wonderful them he was an extraordinarily fine negotiator he had learned all that as the head of the screen actors well he's i think the most significant republican probably since abraham lincoln one of the best things about a president who's dead and gone is it's ok to have a selective memory about what he actually did while in office under reagan the number of employees in the federal government grew from two point eight million to three million national debt grew from seven hundred billion to three trillion during his time in office and he may have lowered taxes but he also raised taxes still here's their. paling president reagan said for big government big taxes and big bureaucracy do be for the little guy perhaps that simply because reagan wasn't always for the little guy in one thousand nine hundred one he fired

more than eleven thousand air traffic control workers who had gone on strike again what you probably didn't see during the reagan media love that if they do not report for work within forty eight hours they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated scenes like this all but forgotten from reagan's pre-presidential days. instead he is remembered as the man who rode in on horseback to rescue america it's an image republicans and the tea party in particular have so successfully resurrected that the mainstream media has forfeited its responsibility to critically assess his legacy in washington christine r.t. the russian foreign ministry is investigating claims that a british journalist was denied entry upon a rival to low scout well carting a moscow correspondent working for the guardian was sent back to london after allegedly being held in a cell for forty five minutes the guardian says harding had

a valid visa which was an old russian border service has not yet commented on the issue under russia law foreign national can be denied entry without any reasons being provided. despite its neutral image switzerland has a strong military tradition and also has europe's highest per capita rate of gun ownership and every male citizen under fifty years of age is a reserve soldier but now many are questioning why a country that hasn't been seriously involved in any military conflict for two hundred years should have an army at all tests are silly has the details. training for combat to caring for war. except these soldiers are from neutral switzerland unlikely to ever experienced wartime combat. more and more of the centuries old swiss militia is being challenged to every standard tradition of keeping a government issued weapon at home as part of military obligations will be put to

a vote on whether they should go on keeping their guns home or store them in public arsenals but that's just one of the arguments local activists like to stuff by day has been pushing for a complete abolition of the armed forces as noble cold war we to be surrounded by the european union which is. militarily speaking totally friendly so we have no war in the me so the army has no reason of being no enemy just a tradition do you think that's what someone should have an army. for. certainly not a joke guys make fun you know. just play a big war against but we don't. we don't need. a nine hundred eighty nine referendum on the issue revealed that more than a third of the swiss are in favor of dissolution a figure significant enough to pressure the government to take some action to rein in military activity the size of the army and its budget while still

a substantial four point five billion dollars have been cut and the option of joining the civil service instead was introduced it's not enough there is a political clout which means that the parliament is made moves a lot of rich people. i mean people want to know me. because they feel insecure there's still about two hundred thousand army personnel with compulsory military service for swiss males private gun ownership for all conscripts living up to a local saying switzerland does not have an army it is an army not a pleasant prospect for young draftees like adrian feller you just don't see the point. to. this was. all. in my opinion an army to some kind of. security you say well i saw what the army can do and they do anything against terrorists and they

can't do anything against the social problems disorder so why should we. be in swiss francs for something to help solve the problems we have the arguments are there get the swiss majority still cannot imagine a nation without their men in uniform. only the political left supporting evolution still a minority in this country it's hard to convince the population because it's really a tradition that is deeply rooted in this. last there's the rise of populism and demagogy each one is leading. many swiss feel that abolishing the armed forces is a kid to letting go of a tradition of losing that sense of security real or imagined so does a neutral country with no enemies really need an army while support for abolition is elusive the question has been asked and the debate is about to continue just are still here r.t. switzerland. let's take

a brief look now at some other stories making headlines around the world military officers careers have sat down for talks following months of tension on the peninsula going on seoul severed their relations late last year after an artillery . you know bamber the north responded to southern artillery fire near their territory by shelling a south korean island it's hoped the discussions will lead to higher level dialogue between the two countries. and italian flag tanker with twenty two crew on board has been seized by pirates in the indian ocean the e.u. says five hijackers fired arms and several rocket grenades as they captured the vessel for date and route from sea down to mel asia was carrying crude oil it's currently selling west towards the somali coast. and britain's former labor government has come under fire after a report revealed they did quote all they could to help secure the lockerbie bomber

was released only one person was convicted of the one nine hundred eighty eight aircraft explosion that killed two hundred seventeen people he was sentenced to life in prison but return to libya in two thousand and nine on compassionate grounds after being given three months to live the recently released report says the u.k.'s commercial interest in the country where the driving force behind its wish to see the bomber fleet. a lawyer former liberian president charles taylor has walked out of a war crimes court in the hague in a protest over procedure that's after prosecutors refused to accept a final document from the differential saying they had missed a january deadline to submit it to or is accused of arming rebels during the civil war in sierra leone in exchange for blood diamonds is also charged with masterminding atrocities during the war which claimed a quarter of a million lives. that wraps up the main news block here in r.t. up next it's business.

on welcome to business is going to straight to our top story russian energy major gas problems reportedly in talks with royal dutch shell to widen their global alliance sources close to the negotiation site of the old blue book say europe's biggest oil company may offer gazprom assets in asia in return shell wants to expand the look of five natural gas plants at the twenty two billion dollars settling to project a winner markets in china and india may also gain access to new offshore fields to supply the plant and its otherness out of from metropole doubts the plans will come to anything at least for the moment. on one hand there are good very good perspectives for. point of view of gas for expansion. but at the same time current situation on the global of the market is not so favorable for a you know making the new energy plans and current trend ease. made sure global

energy producers are postponing or canceling its new capacities of production combustible engine projects saw basically i don't think the timing for expansion of oil and you plan and secondly. is the best time right now. to go to the markets now european markets are mixed in the afternoon trading pretty much flat but so you're trading in the red down point two percent of the territory just a notch swiss bank u.b.s. post and that profit up seven point two billion swiss francs to twenty ten is the first full year profit since the financial crisis marks and spencers topping the list on the gaining more than two percent anglo swiss mining group xstrata as report of the jump in its full year profits thanks to strong commodity prices it's not the most. rational markets are trading in the red correcting as crude as for six dollars and there's an outflow of capital it's quite significant from russia take a look at some of the stocks in more detail north nichols adding to monday's sharp

losses day after it suspended the stock buyback amid a shareholder dispute while the weak crude price is pulling down energy sector with the us now down two point three percent and d.t.b. is posting one of the strongest loss is actually the biggest loss is down point three point three percent that's because no one is sure of the placement price of their shares of their. russia's trade surplus grew by a quarter last year to one hundred sixty eight billion dollars surging prices but whether gas would be exports china overtook the netherlands and germany was to become russia's largest trading partner and twenty ten turnover rose by fifty per. yes fifty nine billion dollars. it's been the worst start of the year for precious metals in two decades but analysts say there are still reasons to be bullish your bank. with silver could be the strongest since the one nine hundred ninety the bag

back to continue buying gold while the world's central banks will add to their. reserves for the third year in a row the two mccutchen from over gold says he's still positive the thing about gold it's very hard to put your thumb on is that it's really not a commodity it's money it's basically a medium a transaction in a way of storing wealth in absolute terms to give you an idea the what's been happening in the past two months china's import over two hundred tons of gold so basically take the entire production in russia china is consumed in two months it's normally a figure in a small private individuals not mentioning you know national banks. so china is bringing in money in the course is a huge tradition and buyer of gold. basically for the first time in many many years central banks have been buyers of gold in two thousand and ten. so you know it's really all about the marginal buyer and it's right now what we have is gold

production is more or less flat or declining it has been declining for the past fifteen years. and so it's really a question of how many people are willing to hold their savings in u.s. treasuries for example or another a fixed income instruments or they want to hold an absolute store of wealth and buy gold so it's really hard to put a price target on it but i can tell you that it's very unlikely it's going to go down more than go. well be back in the less than one hour's time with an update later as markets gold join me that gap.

this is nature and discover its beauty. communicate with the wild and live. test yourself and become free. to. see what nature can give you on on t.v. . in the czech republic ulti is available in a hotel and science central hotel prima vera denise and most regal full stop by you to which i am a taste in bosnia and herzegovina available in the hotel business and hotels that of each. big let you know to put you know hotel period to make hotels you're good

enough told there are a boutique hotel and you're like toast. in serbia multis available in moscow and hyatt regency. at four thirty pm in moscow this is artsy and these are top stories russia as well as wanted methinks. terrorism doku umarov says he's responsible for the bombing of last ounce dome a dead airport which killed thirty six people and morrow is close ties with al qaeda have landed him on the list of the world's most dangerous killers. president mubarak attempts to appease egypt's opposition with even more concessions by demonstrators and karl rove remain defiant the man being tipped to replace mubarak has links with the cia fueling fears that washington is pulling the strings vice

president omar suleiman loan is the former head of egypt should intelligence which has been widely criticized for its systematic use of torture. was wiki leaks founder julian assange just fighting extradition to sweden in a london court for a second day as long as lawyers say he did not justice by stockholm and handed over to the u.s. he fears persecution for revealing secret american diplomatic documents to the world but i had a chance to catch up with dr brian palmer a social anthropologist from uppsala university to discuss why sweden wants to do enough songs so badly he says the u.s. is playing a huge role behind the scenes in this case that's up next. dr brian palmer social anthropologist who teaches that uppsala a university thank you very much for sitting down with us today are to you.